If you never owned an Abercrombie & Fitch muscle tee with an oversized moose in the center, or the bare minimum, a bottle of that cologne its stores spray by the gallon, you probably weren’t cool. You probably weren’t beautiful, and you probably weren’t thin. You probably resorted to American Eagle or H&M where they offer — dare I say it — plus sizes.

Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries knows what I’m talking about. When Jeffries took over in 1992, he redirected the brand to target teens with preppy, luxurious apparel. But rebranding came with a price.

Jeffries wasn’t looking to target all teenagers, but only a subgroup of them. And who better than the 68-year-old  to tell the beautiful elite of American teenagers, well, how to keep on being beautiful?

Jeffries’ ideals reflect the epitome of a thin-oriented, diet-obsessed, I-need-to-lose-2-pounds-tomorrow, America.

See, Jeffries has been picking up the breadcrumbs (but not eating them) that media and advertisers have been leaving for quite some time. Make the beautiful superior and anyone but, inferior. Advertise skinny, and maybe those who aren’t will want to be. Purposely include people so there’s exclusion. Exclude anyone who doesn’t fit the definition of cool and beautiful — Jeffries’ definition. 

What Jeffries is selling is not luxury, brand-name apparel, but an idea. An idea that I once gave into as a teenager myself. I truly believed by wearing clothes that showed off I was fit, I would be perceived differently. That in all naivety, wearing clothes that hugged my skin would somehow make what was under my skin more appealing. 

But a shirt did not make me beautiful. An outfit didn’t make me feel cool.  

Jeffries’ idea fuels the statistic that 95 percent of those with eating disorders are between ages 12-25.8. An idea that disregards the one-third of U.S. adults who are obese. An idea that tells teenagers that they must look like “this” if they want to succeed. That if you’re a thin teenager, these clothes are for you — these clothes make you cool.

An idea that is pushed even stronger on women. Because while XL and XXL sizes are offered for men, they aren’t for women. Men with muscles, that’s OK. Women with muscles, well, we can’t help you here. Jeffries has the double standard of men’s and women’s body image down to the pit. Because if a woman isn’t slim enough to be morphed into a beer bottle for a Michelob or Budweiser advertisement, she surely isn’t thin enough to wear Abercrombie & Fitch. 

Sorry, Mr. Jeffries, but that beauty you’re trying to promote, it isn’t beautiful. And that cool you’re trying to spread, it’s a complete fallacy. Remember Mr. Jeffries, beautiful clothes only conceal the ugliness inside. 

Everyone’s beauty is not one person’s standard of beauty. Beauty, Mr. Jeffries, is not black and white: It’s gray, purple, orange and the rest of the spectrum. Beauty, against his popular belief, does not come from clothes, weight or conformity. 

He targets teenagers — vulnerable, self-conscious, egotistical teenagers. Teenagers believe and listen quite freely, and Jeffries has taken full advantage of that susceptibility. He perpetuates a false belief, for the sake of his company, advertising and profits.

I know what I’m going to do when I get home: part with anything Abercrombie & Fitch. Because it’s no longer a symbol of clothes I once liked to wear, that I felt good wearing and that I thought made me look good. It’s now a symbol of the fat-shaming culture Jeffries perpetuates through his apparel. I don’t need form-fitting shirts and overpriced jeans to reinforce to other people I’m beautiful and cool.

As long as beautiful men and women shop at Abercrombie, correction, as long as men and women continue to believe Abercrombie will make them beautiful, Mr. Jeffries’ ideal will remain prosperous. And as long as influential and successful people like Mike Jeffries reinforce everything beauty and cool is not, people will believe it. 

But as long as there are still those people who know their inner beauty — who know that wearing a small makes you no less beautiful than a double-extra large — true beauty will prosper.

Adam is a senior in ACES. He can be reached at [email protected].